To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.

Do you all remember Tom Croose? he just posted a beautiful remix up on his Soundcloud that I must have missed.

I found this Severed Heads cut on Resident Advisors Top Mixes of 2012. Its one of those perfect synth pop unearthed gems.

I put together a certain style of tech house for my DJ sets, so i’m careful with my selection because I want their to be that synth heavy end, bright driving rhythms and not a big build because i’m more into a break that bleeds into the “drop”, its more entrancing for the crowd. In this Falko track there’s the perfect example of that plus it has that unique drive to it that pushes it forward and not soo much upward.

Atmosphere is very overused in describing music but Function does a great job here, sound like there’s air added, everything vibrates in a cold bright space, takes me back to some early Detroit mornings.

Over the past few years the creativity and aesthetic of the ski movie has reached exciting new levels. Whether you’re remised about it or not, the days of the Warren Miller lifestyle film are quickly fading, if not already gone. Studios like Sweetgrass Productions, Sherpas Cinema, Teton Gravity Research, and Solomon Freeski TV – among others – have redefined the genre with next level editing, production and storytelling.

Presented here is the teaser for Valhalla, a Sweetgrass Productions film set to be released in Fall of this year. I love the aesthetic they’ve created, and can’t wait to see the full movie if this is any indication of how it might turn out.

To round up the album portion of the best of 2012 I wanted to add honorable mentions in no particular order. These artists didn’t just build around a single, they had quality albums for listening and kept true to the art.

Had a chance to explore in and around Death Valley last week with my new favorite lens, Canon’s 24mm F1.4. Stumbled upon a few ghost towns, countless abandoned mines, including one that a migrant had used as a shelter, and even Charlie Manson’s old getaway truck, still preserved in the one of the driest climates on earth. What’s nice about this particular 24mm prime is how it’s fast as it is wide, which makes it great for shallow depth of field in landscape photos, and a perfect tool for capturing shots indoors, in tight places.

During the holidays I stopped in at a used book store and came across a wonderful photography book by Canadian artist, Roloff Beny. ‘To Every Thing There is a Season: Roloff Beny in Canada’ is a photographic essay exploring Canada during the 1960’s. The book contains poems, landscapes, portraits, architecture, and graphic design that is visionary for the time it was printed. Like a Boards of Canada album, the book puts my mind in a cozy, nostalgic place.

A little research reveals that the book was the official Canadian gift to visiting heads of state during the country’s 1967 centennial year. He’s also authored a number of other acclaimed photography books I’m hoping to pick-up in the near future.

Beny’s work is included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 1971, he was made an officer of The Order of Canada. In 1984, at the age of 60, Beny passed away from a heart attack in his Roman studio overlooking the Tiber.

You can view a more complete set of photos in this FLICKR SET I put together.

Inspired by a recent episode of Roman Mars’ wonderful podcast 99% Invisible, I sought out a few images of WWI-era “dazzle” ship camouflage. Rather than blending a target with its surrounding colors and textures, dazzle (aka “razzle dazzle” or “dazzle painting”) deliberately caused ships to clash with the sea and sky, creating eye-aching shimmer effects and making it difficult to discern the craft’s direction, speed, and distance. The hope—and it was a hope, as dazzle inventor Norman Wilkinson’s theories were never properly proven—was that the bedazzle’d ships would so confuse enemy submarines that their torpedoes would never meet their mark. The nautical old guard, as one would expect, rejected Wilkinson’s sweetly cracked vision; the artists of the era’s burgeoning Cubist movement, however, were utterly delighted.

January is already gearing up to be a huge release month, Ducktails has moved onto Domino Recordings, Toro Y Moi is still on Carpark and A$AP Rocky debuts on a major. Probably one of the most exciting January’s for releases in years for indie.

Also, I attached a rework I did of Slowdive. Happy New Year!

In other news Jay-Z is scoring the Great Gatsby, all the baby boomers are probably thinking… “well when I die, I won’t miss the earth as much as I thought I would.”